Beyond Bipolarity: Russia as a Safety Valve in Southeast Asia

... of the erosion of multilateral institutions, strategic autonomy has ceased to be a diplomatic luxury and has become an existential necessity for the nations of the World Majority. For the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the primary challenge lies in navigating the intensifying gravitational pull of the bipolar confrontation between Washington and Beijing. It is within this volatile context that Russia’s role in Southeast Asia must be reassessed—not as a conventional ...